Presenter Profile
L'Mara Thomas, BA
Broward Healthy Start Coalition, Inc.
Lthomas@Browardhsc.org
L'Mara Thomas has been the Safe Sleep Program Manager at Broward Healthy Start coalition since 2023 and worked in the social services arena for over 15 years. L'Mara holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University. She has a passion for infant health and safety. She works diligently to educate the professional community and caregivers on safe sleep practices that reduce the risk of SIDS and other infant sleep related deaths. With the help of community outreach, education, and collaborations from partnering agencies, her current professional goal is to ensure all infants have a safe sleep environment. L'Mara loves to go on adventures with her husband and their 3 children, 11-year-old boy/girl twins and 13-year-old son.
Presentations
Sleeping Safely: A Program to Promote Safe Sleep Practices and Empower Families.
L'Mara Thomas, BA
Blossom Pouchie
Infant sleep related deaths are preventable if safe sleep education is provided to caregivers and the resource to obtain a safe sleep environment is made available. This program aims to reduce sleep-related infant deaths in high priority areas or areas that have high rates of sleep related infant deaths, through virtual and in person Safe Sleep trainings for community professionals and caregivers. The Program Manager is responsible for collecting data on local infant sleep related deaths which is used to make data driven decisions in the community. The program also provides Model Behavior Safe Sleep trainings for the six (6) local birthing hospitals by our 2 Safe Sleep Model Behavior Registered Nurses. Outreach to OBGYN offices, Pediatric offices, and childcare centers allows the program to share safe sleep educational resources at a professional level that can be shared with their clients. Through the program eligible families can apply for a Pack’ N Play to ensure their infant has a safe sleep environment.
Our Safe Sleep program which started in 2019 offers a 2-hour Safe Sleep training class for Professionals once a month or more as requested and Facilitated by the Program Manager. The curriculum is evidence based and modeled from the 19 Safe Sleep recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The program is made sustainable through funding from non-profit organizations that assists in purchasing monthly; 100 Pack N Plays, 100 fitted sheets, 100 sleep sacs (wearable blankets) and educational materials that are provided to families in need of a safe sleep environment. To be eligible the family must have an infant up to 12 months of age or pregnant (35 weeks gestation to birth) and household income is below the poverty line for Broward County. Funding also allows the program to acquire 2 Safe Sleep Model Behavior Nurses to provide education to local hospitals and provide outreach to OBGYN offices and Pediatric offices in Broward County.
In the fiscal year 2023 the program provided 783 Pack’n Plays, safe sleep education and resources to Broward families. The funding also allowed The Safe Sleep program to reach its yearly goal of providing Model Behavior Safe Sleep education to100 hospital staff members at the six (6) birthing hospitals in the County. The Safe Sleep train the trainer program has been successful in training 281 Community Professionals including case managers, care coordinators, nurses, child investigators and counselors.
Infant sleep related deaths are preventable. By bringing the community together using education, available resources and normalizing safe sleep practices we can ensure that every infant has a safe sleep environment.
1. Understand how the Safe Sleep Program operates in a high priority area.
2. The benefits of targeted outreach and training to professionals who provide care for infants and their families.
3. Recognize the importance of assisting families in acquiring a safe sleep environment for their infant and to practice safe sleep AAP recommendations.